BLACK FOREST GATEAU/WRINKLY ROBBERS

Finally a film that lays bare the truth about the Costa Del Crime in southern Spain. Seems it is not merely a retreat for criminals but a paradise that inspires even honest ex-pats to turn to thieving ways.

It is all too easy to imagine the temptation. You’re a little tired of lying by the pool all day getting drunk, you are desperate to do something.

But you don’t fancy getting a real job, you don’t need to work after all.

But what about just a bit of harmless fun. Perhaps getting together with a few of your mates and robbing a bank. Not for the money, mind you. Just to break up the mind-boggling tedium of blue skies and warm seas.

Actually, this particular group of ex-pats have opted for the hard slog of making a film about ex-pats robbing a bank to break up the monotony of their sun-blessed days rather than robbing a bank themselves.

Director Mike Naylor, who is based at Mijas Costa, near Malaga, got the idea for what he calls "a traditional British comedy" some two years ago.

The plot goes like this:

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A group of retired Brits spend their winter months in southern Spain every year reminiscing about life back home and discussing how to put the World to right, while idling away the remainder of their lives in the same old boring music bar every evening.

Then they notice an innocuous news item in an English newspaper about a little old lady who foiled a post office robbery and begin to tease themselves with the idea that they could plan the perfect heist ...

And their amusing fantasy soon strays dangerously close to criminal reality.

The crack team involved consists of seven local characters - Dorothy Clarke, Trevor Cooper, Lynn Halliday, Gloria Harding, Colin Pollard, Ken Stevens and Stephen Tomlinson – all of whom have something a reputation from their performances at the local Salon Varietés Theatre.

For an independent project with limited budget it has benefited enormously from its proximity to some stunning landscapes and sets.

No need for huge expenses to transport cast and crew about. Right next door, Naylor had exotic buildings against the backdrop of the glittering Med and, for added 'verisimilitude', the BBC’s set for the defunct TV soap Eldorado.

In September, Black Forest Gateaux premieres locally, that is to say, in southern Spain, in the Salon Varietés, where so many of its actors have already worked.

Might it succeed enough to make the transfer to Britain? It can be hard for anyone – and anything – to return to Blighty but Naylor will be giving it a shot.

Further details on the film, including trailers, can be found here.

Posted July 23, 2008.